The cannolis of NYC

First off, for those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure, allow me to introduce you to the wonderful pastry delight that is the cannoli. These Sicilian delicacies consist of a deep-fried pastry shell filled with ricotta-based creamy deliciousness. Traditionally there are little pieces of candied citron involved, and a dusting of powdered sugar, and that’s about it. But purists be damned, I like my cannoli shells coated in chocolate. And given the prevalence of this practice in New York, I’m obviously not the only one.

Before we go any further, I’d like to address those of you out there reading this and thinking, “Idiota! it’s one cannolo, two cannoli.” Look, I can speak Italian, too, but right now I’m speaking English, and in English, it’s one cannoli, two cannolis. As in, “Leave the gun. Take the cannolis.” Capeeeeesh?

For the longest time, the chocolate-covered cannolis at La Bella Ferrara on Mulberry Street have been my favorite. Whenever I find myself in the general vicinity of Little Italy, I head straight to this bakery, ignoring all the others along the way. I usually sit in the adjoining cafe and have an espresso and a cannoli or two, and then head over to the bakery part to pick up some more to go. One of the benefits of the chocolate-covered shells is that they don’t get soggy as fast as the regular shells do, so they can be kept for a day or two in the fridge after they have already been filled. Plain-shelled cannolis should be eaten immediately after filling, if possible. But I digress.

On my last trip to New York, I was sitting in La Bella Ferrara, eating my delicious chocolate-covered cannoli, and wondering what made me think this was the best place to get them. The truth was, I didn’t. And it bothered me. I needed to find out if there were other, better cannolis to be had on Mulberry Street. Luckily for me, I had a rainy afternoon full of time and two willing companions, so we set out to investigate. To be continued…